Healthy Breakfast Feeds Entrepreneurial Mental Fitness

Boomtown and Whole Foods Market know how vital the first meal of the day is, so they partnered to host a free and informative event, Breakfast @ Boomtown, on Nov. 29 featuring Whole Foods nutritionist Stephanie McCubbin.

Entrepreneurs from inside and outside the Boomtown community came to learn more about the importance of a healthy breakfast

Cooking a healthy Breakfast

McCubbin not only prepared and shared a delicious and healthy breakfast — a sweet potato hash — but she also offered health tips and answered the audience’s food and nutrition-related questions throughout the morning.

The hash consisted of diced bell peppers, brussels sprouts, purple potatoes, corn, sweet potatoes and either pork or chicken sausage. One of the highlights of McCubbin’s discussion surrounded what a balanced breakfast ought to consist of.

“I learned what you should have in your breakfast,” said Connor Vande Wege, a San Francisco native visiting Boomtown for the first time. “I believe (Stephanie) said a fat, a carbohydrate and a protein — and that’s more manageable, because maybe I have two but not all three.”

McCubbin noted that the morning-time meal “can be a great way to get your first of five to seven servings of vegetables a day,” and that it is a personal goal of hers to get people to eat more vegetables. McCubbin further discussed additional ways to boost the worth of breakfast.

Visiting Boomtown

Other than learning about what a balanced breakfast consists of, Vande Wege saw the event as an opportunity to come visit Boomtown and check out the accelerator’s atmosphere.

“For me personally, it was a very welcoming and inviting way to come explore the space,” Vande Wege said. “If it was just a day walking in, I would kind of feel like I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes and that I don’t really know where I am, but with the breakfast, everyone is here for breakfast, so I feel more welcome. It just seemed like a really cool place and I wanted to check it out.”

On top of the innovative and collaborative atmosphere, once a week Whole Foods Market stocks the Boomtown community refrigerator with healthy snacks and treats to help keep the cohorts nourished and running at peak mental fitness.

“The demands of starting a business very often leave founders neglecting their own health and well-being,” said Shaw Lathrop, Boomtown community director.“We all know that we need to take care of ourselves, but having an expert come in and explain how investing in nutrition and self-care is critical to success, and it really helped drive the point home.”

“Food, and what you eat, definitely, has an affect on your mental capacity,” Vande Wege said. “So, if I can eat something that’s going to charge my brain and not just have to rely on coffee all day to get me active and energized, I think they go hand-in-hand.”

During the event, McCubbin also proposed a few quick, nutritious alternatives to enjoy at breakfast that will propel entrepreneurs to the zenith of mental fitness, even if they’re hurrying out the door in the morning.

“If you’re on the go, whole wheat toast with avocado and a little salsa or yogurt — watch the sugar — and granola are good options,” McCubbin said.

Boomtown aims to find the most innovative entrepreneurs across the various tech industries and strives to provide them with the resources needed to succeed, ultimately formulating a strong and healthy company.

Hosting a healthy and nutritious breakfast for the Boulder startup scene is just one way Boomtown works to support the city’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and works toward building thriving companies in the community.

“We believe that great companies are made up of great people,” said Lathrop. “And moving forward, we want to focus on teaching our teams to invest in themselves.”